How To Fix Macarons That Aren't Drying

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Learn the best tricks for what to do if your macarons aren’t drying. With these tips, you’ll be able to form the proper skin on your macaron shell before baking.

Here are my helpful tips to encourage macaron shells to dry and form a skin.

1. Allow the macarons to dry for a longer amount of time: Before you try a bunch of different steps to get a skin to form on top of your macarons, first attempt a longer drying time.

2. Don’t run any water in your kitchen: Excess moisture, like running water or water from humidity, is the enemy of macarons. Many macaron bakers believe that running water can cause excess moisture to land on the shell and cause cracks to form.

3. Use a dehumidifier: If you’re a serious macaron baker and you know there's a lot of excess moisture or humidity in your house, it may be worth investing in a dehumidifier. You can run the dehumidifier for a few hours before baking macarons to remove the excess moisture in your kitchen.

4. Run a fan or the air conditioning: For a cheaper alternative to a dehumidifier, try using a fan or running the air conditioning. An hour or so before baking macarons, turn your air conditioning on full blast to help cool off the room and make the environment less humid.

4. Run a fan or the air conditioning: Then, when you go to rest the macarons, allow them to dry under a fan. Be sure the fan isn’t too forceful or it could mess up the macaron batter. The fan, while it doesn’t reduce the humidity, allows the air to circulate around the macarons, which encourages a faster drying time.

5. Age your egg whites: If your egg whites are very fresh, they will have a higher percentage of water. This may cause your batter to be too wet, which can make the macaron drying process hard. To resolve this issue, try aging your egg whites to reduce the amount of water in them.

6. Use egg white powder to reinforce the egg protein: Since eggs have such a high percentage of water, it can be helpful to add more protein to them. An easy way to do this is by adding egg white powder. These dried egg whites have had the water removed, so it helps reinforce the protein structure when you're making meringue.

7. Dry the macaron shells in the oven: Dry the shells out at a low temperature in the oven, around 200°F (95°C). Then, increase the temperature of the oven to fully bake off the macarons.

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